Worsening violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, forced the Hospital of the State University of Haiti (HUEH), Haiti’s flagship public hospital, to close and is putting pressure on surrounding hospitals. FHI 360 leads the Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project, funded by USAID, to provide medical oxygen and COVID-19 support in Haiti and warns that the ongoing violence is endangering patient care.
Magda Cheron, FHI 360’s country representative for Haiti, says:
“Among the many consequences stemming from the violence in Haiti, we are witnessing a growing strain on regional hospitals. HUEH’s shutdown has forced people to seek care at facilities that lack the infrastructure to support an influx of patients. Hospitals are overloaded and in desperate need of critical supplies like medical oxygen. We’ve been working to supply hundreds of cylinders to various hospitals to ensure patients receive the care they need.
“Older people and babies in incubators are among the many who are dependent on oxygen. Every day, women are giving birth, people are in accidents — they fall victim to critical firearm injuries or need surgery, and they require oxygen.
“Dangerous conditions have limited our ability to collect medical oxygen for distribution. They’ve forced us to pause the installation of an oxygen production center in HUEH, and we’ve been unable to repair broken generators in other facilities.”
